Siddaramaiah mocked for poll invitation to Rahul

IANS (5 days ago)

Bengaluru, March 16 : The BJP in Karnataka on Saturday mocked former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for inviting Congress President Rahul Gandhi to contest the coming Lok Sabha polls from the southern state.

"A man who could not win election in his own constituency is laying carpet for another loser," tweeted the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP's tweet was in reference to Siddaramaiah losing the state Assembly election in May 2018 from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru to Janata Dal-Secular's (JD-S) G.T. Deve Gowda. The Congress leader, however, won from the Badami Assembly constituency in Bagalkot district.

Siddaramaiah on Friday said Karnataka has supported Congress leaders like Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the past and urged the "next Prime Minister" Rahul Gandhi to contest from the state as well.

"Karnataka has always supported and encouraged Congress leaders. It has been proved in case of Indira ji and Sonia ji. We also want our next Prime Minister of India Rahul Gandhi to contest from Karnataka and herald a new developmental paradigm," the Congress leader said in a tweet.

While former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had contested and won from Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha seat during the 1978 by-election, Sonia Gandhi had defeated BJP leader Sushma Swaraj from Ballari Lok Sabha constituency during the 1999 general elections.